September 21, 1969: The 98-Yard Punt

September 21, 1969: The New York Jets lose to the Denver Broncos, 21-19 at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The Jets led 13-0 after the 1st quarter, but they blew it.

Eight months earlier, led by quarterback Joe Namath and a terrific defense, the Jets had stunned the world by beating the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. They won their new season's opener, 33-19 away to the Buffalo Bills. But they lost this one.

The Jets' Steve O'Neal had a 98-yard punt, the longest in the history of American football, at any level. Despite it taking place in an AFL game, the NFL recognizes it as the NFL record.

There was a 6 mile-an-hour wind, so that wasn't an issue. But Denver did have the highest elevation in either the AFL or the NFL, so that had something to do with it.

"I don't think we ran at all that particular series. Joe dropped back three times to pass and got sacked three times," said O'Neal, who was playing in only his second game. "I thought I was going out maybe to punt after a safety. And the closer I got to it, I realized they're putting the ball inside the 1-yard line. So, I thought, 'This is going to be tight.'

O'Neal's punt, from about 5 yards deep in his own end zone, landed at the Broncos' 33, so it went 67 yards in the air. It bounded down to the goal line, where Denver's Bill Thompson grabbed the ball and ran laterally before being tackled a step from the goal line by Wayne Stewart.

"They did announce before I got over to the sideline that it was a new record. I didn't think that much about it, I just wanted to stay focused on what I was doing," O'Neal said. "The biggest mistake I made was not going and getting the football, but they didn't do that sort of stuff back then.

"Nobody seemed to make a big deal out of it. Weeb Ewbank, the coach at that time, three days later, congratulated me on the punt."

A 23-year-old native of Hearne, Texas, O'Neal had played at Texas A&M, and was a pro rookie. The Jets needed a new punter because Curley Johnson had a knee injury. O'Neal lasted 4 seasons with the Jets, and played the 1973 season with the New Orleans Saints, who cut him before the 1974 season. He became a dentist, and moved to Bryan, Texas, near the A&M campus, where he practiced before retiring in 2015. As of September 21, 2022, he is still alive.

If you don't count O'Neal's 98-yarder because it was in the AFL, or because it was at altitude, the 2nd-longest punt in NFL history went 93 yards, by Shawn McCarthy of the New England Patriots, in a 22-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills on November 3, 1991.

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September 21, 1969 was a Sunday. Actor Billy Porter was born.

Elsewhere in the American Football League:

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Boston Patriots, 31-0 at Alumni Stadium in the Boston suburb of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Buffalo Bills, 17-3 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo.

* And the Cincinnati Bengals beat the San Diego Chargers, 34-20 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati.  

These NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Minnesota Vikings, 24-23 at Yankee Stadium.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-20 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Baltimore Colts, 27-20 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the San Francisco 49ers, 24-12 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).

* The Washington Redskins beat the New Orleans Saints, 26-20 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 24-3 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Detroit Lions, 16-13 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* And the Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 17-0 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-3 and 6-1 at Shea Stadium. Jerry Koosman outpitched Dock Ellis in the opener. Art Shamsky hit a home run. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-4 with an RBI, then sat out the nightcap, in which Don Cardwell outpitched Steve Blass. Over the 2 games, Willie Stargell went 2-for-8 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

Three days later, the Mets clinched their 1st-ever 1st-place finish, winning the 1st-ever National League Eastern Division title. They went on to win the World Series.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies. 7-6 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Mike Kilenny pitched a 3-hit shutout. Al Kaline went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Norm Cash went 3-for-4 a walk and 2 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Fergie Jenkins outpitched Chuck Taylor. Randy Hundley hit a home run. Ernie Banks went 1-for-3.

* The Seattle Pilots beat the Minnesota Vikings, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. John Kennedy hit a home run in the top of the 9th inning, to give the Pilots the win. Harmon Killebrew went 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 2 RBIs.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 8-2 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Hank Aaron hit his 583rd career home run.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the California Angels, 12-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Reggie Jackson went 4-for-6 with 3 RBIs, but did not hit any of his 47 home runs that season in this game. Dave Duncan did hit a home run for the A's in this game, his 2nd of the season, and 1 of 109 he would hit in his career.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Jim Davenport hit a ground ball to short, and Maury Wills made an error that allowed Willie McCovey to score the winning run.

* And the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles were rained out at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. As the O's were running away with the American League Eastern Division, the game was never made up.

The NBA and the ABA hadn't yet started their seasons. The NHL had begun preseason exhibition games, including the St. Louis Blues beating the Boston Bruins, 5-1 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena). That game featured a fight between the Blues' Wayne Maki and the Bruins' Ted Green that resulted in a head injury that knocked Green out for the entire season. I have a separate entry for this event.